Rotary shoe-ironer and treeing-machine.



PATENTED FEB. 11, 1 908.

KPPLIGATION FILED SEPT. 26, 1906.

VWT/VESSES n1: NORRIS pzrxn: co., WASHINIH'GN, n. c.

IRA E. FLETCHER, OF MONTELLO, MASSACHUSETTS.

ROTARY SHOE-IRONER AND TREEING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 11, 1908.

Application filed September 26' 1906. Serial No. 336378.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IRA E. FLETCHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Montello, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Rotary Shoe-Ironers and Treeing-Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

The process of smoothing out the wrinkles and properly dressing and shaping the upper of a shoe subsequent to the sewing thereof is at present accomplished by mounting the boot or shoe fixedly on a jack and then going over it by hand with a tool held at opposite ends by the operator and moved back and. forth over the shoe or held at one end by the operator and simply moved back and forth over the shoe. The result is more'or less imperfect, even with the best operators, and in the hands of a poor operator is very unsatis factory, as the operator cannot get proper pressure upon the leather, cannot conveniently manipulate the tool at the various angles and positions requisite for following all the contours of the surface of the upper,

and his attention is more or less diverted by the awkwardness of handling the heated tool. Further serious disadvantage resides in the fact that the constant presence of a hot tool in the hands of the operator unduly fatigues and distracts the operator. The present system also requires a number of different shaped ironing tools, so that the operator is required to change from one to the other.

Accordingly my invention resides in providing a fixed rotary tool having a variety of configurations and so positioned that the operator can hold the shoe hard up against the under side of said fixed rotary tool if desired, and freely manipulate the shoe so as to bring all portions thereof needing ironing against the particular curve or projection of the tool for the best results. This enables the operator to accomplish his work much more rapidly and with better results than is possible when he holds the tool in his hands. The construction and further advantages of my invention will appear more in detail in connection with the following description taken with the accompanying drawings, in which I have shown a preferred embodiment of the invention. a

In the drawings, Figure lis a view of my machine in front elevation; and Fig. 2 rep resents the machine in side elevation, the

of the tool proper. The latter is hollow for heating purposes, gas heating means 10 being herein shown, although it will be understood that electricity, steam or any other heating medium may be employed. At 11 I provide a concave curved surface having a rather sharp bend at its inner or left-hand end and a more sloping curve at its outer end, so as to fit a large variety of shapes and forms of toes. Beyond the standard 2 I provide a cylindrical surface 12 for ironing the ball portion of the shoe, said surface verging into a curved portion 13 having different lines from the part 11 for fitting against practically all other shapes of toes. The part 13 has a steep forward or outer curve and a long concave inner curve differing in this respect from the curve 11, whose outer portion is nearer conical. Adjacent the part 13 is a long convex portion 14 adapted for ironing the shanks of shoes, and at the outer end is an eggshaped knob 15 for reaching all the extreme curves, angles, etc., of the shank. These parts are arranged in the order best adapted to the convenience of the operator, according to the sequence of his operations in rubbing the different parts of the shoe.

It will be readily apparent that, in using my machine, the operator can stand up straight to his work and bring any desired amount of pressure upon the shoe without fatigue to himself, inasmuchas he simply holds the shoe against the rotating roll or tool, pressing the shoe either daintily or heavily against the exact curvature of the tool required for ironing any given portion. Commencing at the toe for instance, he simply moves the shoe against one portion of the toe curve 1]. and then the other portion of said curve, thereby immediately removing all wrinkles and smoothing and stretching the leather exactly as required, and then the operator shifts to the cylindrical portion 12 and instantly irons the ball portion and passes to the shank, which he presses against the portion 14, and ends up by engaging the various angles, etc. of this portion of the shoe against the especially curved knob 15. The overhanging support of the roll enables the operator to move the shoe into any posi tion, not only in front of the roll, but beneath the same, and permits him to swing the shoe and operate jit freely in any directhe result of his work much more readily when he has the shoe in his hand than he can when he is obliged to work over the shoe with a hand-manipulated tool. And finally, the operator not only is relieved of the weight of the tool, but of the heat. Continually grasping a heated handle is very fatiguing, especially to the nerves.

1 wish it understood that my invention is capable of a variety of embodiments and that, if desired, certain of the curves may be omitted or others added, the form of tool herein shown being the preferred form, as it embodies suitable curves for all varieties of work common to the average shoe factory. When properly heated the operator can ob- I tain fairly satisfactory results without positively rotating the tool, and in fact, when it is stationary it produces good treeing results and ismuch more convenient than the hand operated tools to which I have previously referred.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

1. A shoe ironer, comprising a standard, a hollow ironing tool projecting freely at one side of and supported entirely by said standstapes ard, heating means entering at one end of said tool and terminating within the same, said ironing tool containing a convex ironing surface beyond said bearing and terminating at its forward end in a smooth, uniformly convex, oval hollow knob having a pointed end, for ironing the shank.

2. A shoe ironer, comprising a standard having projecting freely from one side thereof an ironing tool provided with a smooth, one-piece ironing surface having at one portion a concave toe-ironing surface containing a short steep toe-ironing peripheral curve at one end and a long sloping curve 13 at the other end and next thereto a long slightly convex shank-ironing surface 14 terminating.

in a smooth elongated oval shank-ironing knob having a slender oval polnt for entering extreme angles.

3. A shoe ironer, comprising a standard, and a hollow ironing tool projecting at one side of said standard and having a free uninterrupted space all around said entire projecting tool and beneath the same sufficiently to permit the shoe to be handled and moved freely in all directions adjacent the tool, said tool comprising a one-piece peripherally smooth iron having an approximately cylindrical'ball-ironing surface verging into a concave toe-ironing surface havinga comparatively abrupt outer curved end from which continues a long convex shank-ironing surface, next to which is a terminal knob in the form of an elongated oval reduced to a blunt .point at its free extremity and having a size sufliciently small to enter the shank angles of a usual shoe.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

IRA E. FLETCHER. Witnesses C. E. BAooN, EDWARD MAXWELL. 

